Propeller



UNITED STATS PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY W. HERBERT, OF HERBERTSVgILLE, VIRGINIA.

' MARINE PROPELLER.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 27,629, dated March 27, 1860.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY W. HERBERT, of Herbertsv-ille, in the countyof Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Propellers; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact ldescription of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming a partv of this specication, inwhicl Figure l, is a side view of the forepart and a longitudinalvertical section through the rear part of the ship. Fig. 2, is avertical cross section through the rear part of the ship. Fig. 3, is asimilar section through the central part of the ship. Fig. t, is a sideView of the rear part of the ship, and Fig. 5, a front View of thepropeller.

Similar letters of reference, in each of the several figures indicatecorresponding parts.

The nature of my invention consists, first, in adapting the outer formof the submerged portion of a vessel and the surface of the body of thepropeller, to each other so that both together shall form a graceful andcontinuous outline, and at the same time only one portion of thepropeller be exposed to the water, the other portion being closed inwithin the body of the ship; second, in providing each side of `the shipwith a curved shield in combination with a system of braces for thepurpose of protecting the propeller blades and o-f bracing together themain body of the ship and that portion of it which is behind thepropeller; third, the application in a propeller such as hereinafterdescribed, of the removable blades, the tongues of the blades tting intodovetail grooves in the surface of the body of the propeller; fourth, incoi'istructing the main side braces of the ship so that they may be usedas coal-bunkers.

To enable others skilled in the art, to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The lower part of the vessels stern is open at B, Fig. 4f, and propellerI, is arranged in this opening, the horizontal shaft M, of whichpropeller has its bearings in the rear and front faces of this openingat m, m.

The outer surface of the body I, of the propeller has the form of afrustum of a cone so as to form the continuation of the outline of thesubmerged portion of the vessel. Fig. 4, represents the outline of thebody of the propeller at 2, 3, (in red) which it will be seen is acontinuation of the keel line 3, 4, in front and l, 2, in rear of thepropeller. In the same manner, the outlines of the submerged portion ofthe vessel coincide with the surface of the propeller from the keel upto the shields H, H, the faces N, N, and N N, of the opening B, having asemicircular outline coinciding with .the smaller and larger circlerespectively of the frustum of a cone above described.

Fig. 2, shows the semi-circle l N, which corresponds to .the circularoutline of the propeller I.

The portions of the keel in front and behind the propeller are firmlyheld together by a long iron brace E, E'. Two Vertical braces C, C,extend upward from the upper edge D, of the brace E, E, .and arefastened to the front and rear face of the opening B. Iron bands F, aremade fast to the upper edge Q, of the vessel and pass in an obliquedirection around the lower part of the upright rear edge of the stern,one or more of the lower bands F, being also fastened to the rear end ofbrace E, E, as seen at n, Fig. 4. Other bands G, are arranged across thebands F, to increase the strength and solidity of the wholeconstruction.

A strong shield H, the outline of which forms an easy curve so to offerthe least possible resistance to the propulsion of the vessel isfastened to each side of the vessels stern and serves not only inaddition to the bands F,) as a powerful brace, to the portions of thevessel in front and in rear of the propeller, but also as a protectionto the blades of the propeller (where they are near or above the waterline) when the vessel is alongside a wharf or happens to pass close byanother craft or through ice or the like.

It will be seen that the piece E, C, C, bands F, and shields H,constitute a powerful system of braces that serves to hold firmlytogether the stern and main-body of the ship, the first being in rearand the latter in front of the propeller.

'I he blades J, of the propeller have broad flanges which fit thesurface of the body of the propeller. The bottom surface of the flangesof each blade is provided with a tongue O, which fits into acorresponding dovetail groove in the surface of the body of thepropeller. This dovetail connection prevents the blades from coming offthe body of the propeller in a radial direction,

while bolts L, L, (passing through the flanges of the blades into thebody of the propeller) secure the blades from giving way sidewise in thedirection of the tongues and grooves. Thus the blades are firmlyfastened to the body of the propeller and yet they can easily be removed(the hole T, in the floor of the gun deck S, serves to approach theblades for the purpose of unscrewing the bolts L, and slipping theblades out of the grooves) whenever it is desired t0 stop the machineryand proceed under sail.

It will be understood from a preceding part of this specification thatafter the removal of the propeller blades, the sub merged portions ofthe propeller and the vessel, form a continuous surface which allows itto pass through the water with the same ease as a sailing vessel, thepropeller offering no additional resistance whatever.

To increase the stiffness of the vessel and furnish an additional braceconnecting the stern and main body of the same, a main side brace P,extends along each side of the vessel below the gun-deck Hoor to combinegreat strength with economy of metal, these main side braces areconstructed hollow as seen in Figs. 2 and 3 and they are of suchdimensions that the hollow spaces serve as coal-bunkers large enough formen to enter and remove the coal. The coal or other fuel may beintroduced through port-hole U in the sides of the vessel.

The body of the propeller I, is made hollow in order to diminish itsWeight. This hollow space K, of the propeller is filled with acomposition of coal-tar and cork shavings so as to secure it fromaccidental leak and rust, and at the same time give buoyancy to thepropeller.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. Adapting the outer form of the submerged portion of a vessel and thesurface of the body of the propeller, to each other so that bothtogether shall form a continuous outline, and at the same time only aportion of the propeller be exposed to the water, the other portionbeing inclosed within the body of the vessel, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

2. Providing' each side of the ship with a curved shield H, incombination with a system of braces F, E, D, C, for the purpose ofprotecting the propeller blades and of bracing together the main body ofthe ship and that portion of it which is behind the propeller,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The application in a propeller such as described, of the removableblades J, the tongues O, of the blades fitting into dovetail grooves inthe surface of the body of the propeller, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

t. Constructing the main side braces P, of the ship so that they may beused as coal bunkers, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

The above specification of my improvement in propellers signed by methis 17 th day of February 1860.

H. lV. HERBERT. l/Vitnesses:

GOODWIN Y. AT LEE, T. F. ALLEN.

